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Jeremiah 50

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1 The word which the Lord said about Babylon, about the land of the Chaldaeans, by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 Give it out among the nations, make it public, and let the flag be lifted up; give the word and keep nothing back; say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is broken, her images are put to shame, her gods are broken.

3 For out of the north a nation is coming up against her, which will make her land waste and unpeopled: they are in flight, man and beast are gone.

4 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping and making prayer to the Lord their God.

5 They will be questioning about the way to Zion, with their faces turned in its direction, saying, Come, and be united to the Lord in an eternal agreement which will be kept in mind for ever.

6 My people have been wandering sheep: their keepers have made them go out of the right way, turning them loose on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, having no memory of their resting-place.

7 They have been attacked by all those who came across them: and their attackers said, We are doing no wrong, because they have done evil against the Lord in whom is righteousness, against the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

8 Go in flight out of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and be like he-goats before the flocks.

9 For see, I am moving and sending up against Babylon a band of great nations from the north country: and they will put their armies in position against her; and from there she will be taken: their arrows will be like those of an expert man of war; not one will come back without getting its mark.

10 And the wealth of Chaldaea will come into the hands of her attackers: all those who take her wealth will have enough, says the Lord.

11 Because you are glad, because you are lifted up with pride, you wasters of my heritage, because you are playing like a young cow put out to grass, and you make a noise like strong horses;

12 Your mother will be put to shame; she who gave you birth will be looked down on: see, she will be the last of the nations, a waste place, a dry and unwatered land.

13 Because of the wrath of the Lord no one will be living in it, and it will be quite unpeopled: everyone who goes by Babylon will be overcome with wonder, and make sounds of fear at all her punishments.

14 Put your armies in position against Babylon on every side, all you bowmen; let loose your arrows at her, not keeping any back: for she has done evil against the Lord.

15 Give a loud cry against her on every side; she has given herself up, her supports are overturned, her walls are broken down: for it is the payment taken by the Lord; Give her payment; as she has done, so do to her.

16 Let the planter of seed be cut off from Babylon, and everyone using the curved blade at the time of the grain-cutting: for fear of the cruel sword, everyone will be turned to his people, everyone will go in flight to his land.

17 Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have been driving him away: first he was attacked by the king of Assyria, and now his bones have been broken by Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon.

18 So this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, I will send punishment on the king of Babylon and on his land, as I have given punishment to the king of Assyria.

19 And I will make Israel come back to his resting-place, and he will get his food on Carmel and Bashan, and have his desire in full measure on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.

20 In those days and in that time, says the Lord, when the evil-doing of Israel is looked for, there will be nothing; and in Judah no sins will be seen: for I will have forgiveness for those whom I will keep safe.

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the people of Pekod; put them to death and send destruction after them, says the Lord, and do everything I have given you orders to do.

22 There is a sound of war in the land and of great destruction.

23 How is the hammer of all the earth cut in two and broken! how has Babylon become a waste among the nations!

24 I have put a net for you, and you have been taken, O Babylon, without your knowledge: you have been uncovered and taken because you were fighting against the Lord.

25 From his store-house the Lord has taken the instruments of his wrath: for the Lord, the Lord of armies, has a work to do in the land of the Chaldaeans.

26 Come up against her one and all, let her store-houses be broken open: make her into a mass of stones, give her to the curse, till there is nothing of her to be seen.

27 Put all her oxen to the sword; let them go down to death: sorrow is theirs, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.

28 The voice of those who are in flight, who have got away safe from the land of Babylon, to give news in Zion of punishment from the Lord our God, even payment for his Temple.

29 Send for the archers to come together against Babylon, all the bowmen; put up your tents against her on every side; let no one get away: give her the reward of her work; as she has done, so do to her: for she has been uplifted in pride against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 For this cause her young men will be falling in her streets, and all her men of war will be cut off in that day, says the Lord.

31 See, I am against you, O pride, says the Lord, the Lord of armies, for your day has come, the time when I will send punishment on you.

32 And pride will go with uncertain steps and have a fall, and there will be no one to come to his help: and I will put a fire in his towns, burning up everything round about him.

33 This is what the Lord of armies has said: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are crushed down together: all those who took them prisoner keep them in a tight grip; they will not let them go.

34 Their saviour is strong; the Lord of armies is his name: he will certainly take up their cause, so that he may give rest to the earth and trouble to the people of Babylon.

35 A sword is on the Chaldaeans, says the Lord, and on the people of Babylon, and on her rulers and on her wise men.

36 A sword is on the men of pride, and they will become foolish: a sword is on her men of war, and they will be broken.

37 A sword is on all the mixed people in her, and they will become like women: a sword is on her store-houses, and they will be taken by her attackers.

38 A sword is on her waters, drying them up; for it is a land of images, and their minds are fixed on false gods.

39 For this reason the beasts of the waste land with the wolves will make their holes there and the ostriches will be living in it: never again will men be living there, it will be unpeopled from generation to generation.

40 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring towns were overturned by God, says the Lord, so no man will be living in it, and no son of man will have a resting-place there.

41 See, a people is coming from the north; a great nation and a number of kings will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth.

42 Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon has had news of them, and his hands have become feeble: trouble has come on him and pain like the pain of a woman in childbirth.

44 See, he will come up like a lion from the thick growth of Jordan against the resting-place of Teman: but I will suddenly make them go in flight from her; and I will put over her the man of my selection: for who is like me? and who will put forward his cause against me? and what keeper of sheep will keep his place before me?

45 So give ear to the decision of the Lord which he has made against Babylon, and to his purposes designed against the land of the Chaldaeans; Truly, they will be pulled away by the smallest of the flock; truly, he will make waste their fields with them.

46 At the cry, Babylon is taken! the earth is shaking, and the cry comes to the ears of the nations.

   

Commentary

 

Babylon (Babel)

  
Babylon by Unsigned. Attributed to Lopo Homem, Pedro Reinel, Jorge Reinel and Antonio de Holanda

Babylon was an ancient city built on the Euphrates river in what is now southern Iraq. It once was the capital of a great empire which at one point conquered the land of Judah as mentioned in the second book of Kings and in Daniel. But the river changed its course and the city was abandoned long ago. Both the historic city in Mesopotamia and the parable city with its tower, mentioned in Genesis, represent the same thing, a worship that appears holy in externals, while the internals are profane. This representation expands to mean a church whose leaders use this kind of worship to gain dominion over others for their own gain and for the gain and power of the church. The city itself is the doctrinal structure that supports this kind of worship and dominion.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 1029; Arcana Coelestia 1283, 1302, 1304, 1310, 1311)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2686

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2686. That 'a bow' is the doctrine of faith is clear from its meaning. In the Word, wherever wars are the subject and wherever wars are mentioned, none but spiritual wars are meant in the internal sense, 1664. There were also in the Ancient Word 1 books that were entitled The Wars of Jehovah, as is clear in Moses, in Numbers 21:14-16. These, which were written in the prophetical style, possessed an internal sense and had as their subject the Lord's conflicts and temptations, and also the Church's conflicts and temptations, and those of members of the Church. This is evident from the fact that some things were selected by Moses from those books, as well as from other books of that Church which were called The Books of the Utterers of Prophecies, 2 referred to in Numbers 21:27-30, where almost the same words occur as in Jeremiah; compare Numbers 21:28 with Jeremiah 48:45. From this it may also be concluded that the Ancient Church had writings, historical and also prophetical, which were Divine and inspired and which in the internal sense had the Lord and His kingdom as their subject, and that for those people these writings were the Word as the historical and the prophetical books are for us, which in the sense of the letter have to do with the Jews and Israelites but in the internal sense with the Lord and with the things which are His.

[2] As in the Word, and also in the books of the Ancient Church, 'war' meant spiritual warfare, so all weapons such as the sword, spear, buckler, shield, arrows, shafts, and bows meant such things specifically as belong to the warfare that is meant in the spiritual sense. What is meant specifically by particular kinds of weapons will in the Lord's Divine mercy be stated elsewhere. Here the meaning of 'the bow', namely the doctrine of truth, will be shown, and how this meaning is derived from arrows, shafts, or darts, which mean the things of doctrine from which and with which those in particular who are spiritual fight, who in former times were therefore called 'archers'.

[3] That 'the bow' means the doctrine of truth becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The arrows of Jehovah are sharp, and all His bows are bent. His horses' hoofs are considered as flint, and His wheels as the whirlwind. Isaiah 5:28.

This refers to the truths of doctrine. 'arrows' are spiritual truths, 'bows' doctrine, 'horses' hoofs' natural truths, 'wheels' their doctrine. It is because such things are meant by them that those objects are attributed to Jehovah, to whom they cannot be attributed except in the spiritual sense, otherwise they would be words that are empty and not appropriate. In Jeremiah,

The Lord has bent His bow like an enemy, He has stood with His right hand like a foe, and has slain all things pleasant to the eye in the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His anger like fire. Lamentations 2:4.

'Bow' stands for the doctrine of truth, which is seen by those immersed in falsities as a foe and hostile. No other kind of bow can be spoken of in reference to the Lord. In Habakkuk,

O Jehovah, You ride on Your horses, Your chariots are salvation, Your bow will be made quite bare. Habakkuk 3:8-9.

Here also 'bow' means the doctrine of good and truth. In Moses,

The archers will exasperate him and shoot at him and hate him. He will sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands will be made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Genesis 49:23-24.

This refers to Joseph, 'bow' standing for the doctrine of good and truth.

[4] In John,

I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; to him a crown was given. Revelation 6:2.

'A white horse' stands for wisdom, 'he who sat on it' for the Word, as is made explicit in Revelation 19:13, where the white horse is referred to again. And because 'he who sat on it' is the Word it is clear that 'a bow' means the doctrine of truth. In Isaiah,

Who stirred up righteousness from the east, called him to be His follower, gave nations before Him, and caused Him to have dominion over kings? He made them as dust to His sword, as driven stubble to His bow. Isaiah 41:2.

This refers to the Lord, 'sword' standing for truth, 'bow' for doctrine derived from Him. In the same prophet,

I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan. Isaiah 66:19.

'Those who draw the bow' stands for teachers of doctrine. For what Tarshish means, see 1156; Lud, 1195, 1231; Tubal, 1151; Javan, 1152, 1153, 1155.

[5] In Jeremiah, At the noise of the horseman and of him who wields the bow the whole city takes to flight. They have entered clouds and climbed up on rocks. The whole city has been forsaken. Jeremiah 4:29.

'The horseman' stands for those who declare the truth, 'the bow' for the doctrine of truth, which they flee from or fear who are immersed in falsities. In the same prophet,

Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about; O all you who bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrow, for she has sinned against Jehovah. Jeremiah 50:14, 29; 51:2-3.

Here 'those who shoot and bend the bow' stands for declarers and teachers of the doctrine of truth.

[6] In Zechariah,

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be cut off, and He will speak peace to the nations. Zechariah 9:10.

'Ephraim' stands for the Church's understanding of truth, 'bow' for doctrine. In Samuel,

David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son, and told [them] to teach the children of Judah the bow. 2 Samuel 1:17-18.

Here 'the bow' is not the subject but doctrinal matters regarding faith. In Ezekiel,

The Lord Jehovih has said, This is the day of which I have spoken, and those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, and they will make fires of and burn the weapons, both shield and buckler, bow and arrows, both hand-staff and spear; and they will make a fire of them for seven years. Ezekiel 39:8-9.

The weapons mentioned here are all weapons for spiritual war. 'Bow and arrows' stands for doctrine and its truths. Furthermore when truths themselves separated from goods are represented visually in the next life they are seen as arrows.

[7] Just as 'the bow' means the doctrine of truth, so in the contrary sense it means the doctrine of falsity. In the Word things like these nearly always have a contrary sense, as stated and shown in various places; as in Jeremiah,

Behold, a people coming from the land in the north, and a mighty nation will be stirred up from the furthest parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; it is cruel and they will have no pity. Their voice will roar like the sea, they will ride upon horses, every one set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion! Jeremiah 6:22-23.

Here 'bow' stands for the doctrine of falsity. In the same prophet,

Behold, a people coming from the north, a mighty nation, and many kings will be stirred up from the furthest parts of the earth. They have hold of bow and spear; they are cruel and have no pity. Jeremiah 50:41-42.

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,

They bend their tongue; their bow is a bow of lies and not used for truth. They grow strong in the land, for they have gone on from evil to evil and do not know Me. Jeremiah 9:2-3.

'A bow', it is quite evident, means the doctrine of falsity, for it is said that 'they bend their tongue, their bow is a bow of lies and not for truth'.

[8] In the same prophet,

Jehovah Zebaoth has said, Behold, I am breaking the bow of Elam, the chief of its might. Jeremiah 49:35.

In David,

Come, behold the works of Jehovah who makes desolations in the earth, making wars cease even to the end of the earth, He breaks the bow, shatters the spear, and burns the chariots 3 with fire. Psalms 46:8-9.

In the same author,

In Judah God is known, in Israel His name is great, and in Salem will His tabernacle be, and His dwelling-place in Zion. There He broke the bow's fiery darts, the shield and the sword, and war. Psalms 76:1-3.

In the same author;

Behold, the wicked bend the bow, they prepare their shafts upon the string to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart. Psalms 11:2.

Here 'bow and shafts' plainly stands for matters of doctrine concerning falsity.

Footnotes:

1. The text has Church, but the Latin is clearly Word.

2. or The Books of Prophetic Utterances. But see 2897.

3. literally, carts or wagons

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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